Integrated hydrotreating and isomerization process with aromatic separation
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorOmer Refa Koseoglu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Deep desulfurization of hydrocarbon feeds containing undesired organosulfur compounds to produce a hydrocarbon product having low levels of sulfur, i.e., 15 ppmw or less of sulfur, is achieved by hydrotreating the feed under mild conditions, and separating the hydrotreated effluent into an aromatic-rich fraction which contains a substantial amount of the aromatic refractory and sterically hindered sulfur-containing compounds, and an aromatic-lean fraction. The aromatic-rich fraction is contacted with isomerization catalyst, and the isomerized aromatic-rich fraction is recycled to the mild hydrotreating process.
Claims18
A method of processing a hydrocarbon feed to reduce the concentration of undesired organosulfur compounds comprising:
- subjecting the hydrocarbon feed to a mild hydrotreating process effective to convert labile organosulfur compounds and
- produce a hydrotreated effluent containing converted compounds and unconverted sterically hindered refractory aromatic organosulfur compounds;
- separating the hydrotreated effluent into an aromatic-lean fraction that is recovered as a hydrotreated hydrocarbon product and an aromatic-rich fraction that contains sterically hindered refractory aromatic organosulfur compounds;
- contacting the aromatic-rich fraction with an isomerization catalyst in the presence of hydrogen to remove steric hindrance of certain compounds and produce an isomerized effluent including isomerate and any remaining unreacted hydrogen;
- flashing the isomerized effluent to produce a light isomerized effluent and a heavy isomerized effluent;
- recovering the light isomerized effluent;
- and
- recycling at least a portion of the heavy isomerized effluent to the mild hydrotreating process.
A method of processing a hydrocarbon feed to reduce the concentration of undesired organosulfur compounds comprising:
- subjecting the hydrocarbon feed to a mild hydrotreating process effective to convert labile organosulfur compounds and
- produce a hydrotreated effluent containing converted compounds and unconverted sterically hindered refractory aromatic organosulfur compounds;
- separating the hydrotreated effluent into an aromatic-lean fraction that is recovered as a hydrotreated hydrocarbon product and an aromatic-rich fraction that contains sterically hindered refractory aromatic organosulfur compounds;
- contacting the aromatic-rich fraction with an isomerization catalyst in the presence of hydrogen to remove steric hindrance of certain compounds and produce an isomerized effluent including isomerate and any remaining unreacted hydrogen;
- flashing the isomerized effluent to produce a light isomerized effluent and a heavy isomerized effluent;
- recovering the light isomerized effluent;
- and
- recycling at least a portion of the heavy isomerized effluent to the step of separating the hydrotreated effluent into an aromatic-lean fraction and an aromatic-rich fraction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.